Game Review: Resident Evil 4 (Switch)

May 24, 2019 Liam McNally Comments 0 Comment

If you’ve been gaming within the last decade, chances are you’ve heard of Resident Evil 4. What started as a GameCube exclusive in 2005 has seen more than 10 different re-releases up until now, so it should be no surprise that it’s made its way home to the Nintendo Switch.

Resident Evil 4 sees Leon Kennedy (of a Resident Evil 2 fame) working for the US government. You begin arriving at a village in Spain, tasked with the US President’s daughter who has been kidnapped.

This is the HD remaster of the game, so the first thing you will notice is that the graphics are very sharp and clean on most character and object models. It’s worth noting I did spot occasional textures that were a bit blurry looking, but this was rare and my general feeling is that this game holds up extremely well today. The game will throw monsters of all shapes and sizes (literally) at you and they all look as horrific and juicy as intended.

The control scheme of the game may take some getting used to for newcomers to the series. Not so much of a ‘run and gun’ game, Resident Evil 4 is a ‘run, stop and shoot, resume running’ game. Once you adjust to this, however, the controls will barely be a second thought as they feel quite natural.

The overall gameplay, to this day, is one of the best in the gaming industry. The story is great and will keep you engrossed. The game itself is is like following a trail of breadcrumbs, with weapon upgrades becoming available from the trusty merchant making you feel like a bit of a bad ass the further you progress. It’s also worth noting that ammo isn’t much of an issue if you have half decent aim, so you can blast your way through most enemies.

Adding in the additional layer of the off-screen play takes nothing away from the game. It looks much better playing on the TV, but being able to take a game like this on the go is amazing. Mind you, you might just get a few funny looks if anyone sees you shooting someone only for their head to explode and a wriggling monster to pop out of it…

Although this is a fairly linear game I find it’s quite an addictive one. It has that feeling of ‘just one more chapter’ whenever you reach a chapter end. Now that I have finished a play through I’m already looking forward to starting the second run as soon as possible.

As a result of this the game has excellent replay value. Completing the first run on Normal difficulty will unlock Professional difficulty, making things a bit harder. You will then also unlock a number of additional games such as finding out what Ada Wong has been up to as well as a timed Mercenaries game.

This brings me to my only sticking point: the price. This is on the store for £29.99 at time of writing. Which I think might actually be the price I paid when this came out on GameCube. Asking for this now for what is essentially a straight port of the HD remaster made for PS3 is ridiculous. I would have expected this to come out for a maximum of £15.99 (the price on other platforms) in which case I would have no qualms about insisting you buy it. To charge almost double that just seems a bit greedy. Unless you’re really desperate to play this again and have no other option (or just need that portable fix) then I would recommend waiting for a sale.

Whenever you do manage to pick this up, you won’t be disappointed. Whether you’re curious to see what the fuss is about or a returning player to this juggernaut of a game, you’ll have a great time stepping in to Leon’s shoes and blasting through your mission.

The Good: